Noda Begins DPJ Re-Election Bid as Hashimoto Shakes Up Japan

By Takashi Hirokawa -
Sep 9, 2012

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will
be challenged by three rivals to lead Japan’s ruling party as it
confronts a new political force headed by Osaka’s mayor ahead of
elections that could come as early as October.

Noda is favored to win the Sept. 21 contest to head the
Democratic Party of Japan, which is supported by less than one-
fifth of the country’s voters. Former internal affairs minister
Kazuhiro Haraguchi, and Hirotaka Akamatsu and Michihiko Kano,
each of whom have served as farm minister, announced their
candidacies today.

Both the DPJ and the main opposition Liberal Democratic
Party have been undermined by the rise of Osaka Mayor Toru
Hashimoto, who has become Japan’s most popular politician with
his attacks on the gridlock from a split parliament. Hashimoto
on Sept. 8 announced the name of his new national party to vie
in elections that Noda has pledged to call “soon.”

“Noda has no significant rivals but it’s a poisoned
chalice because polls show the DPJ is headed for a
shellacking,” said Jeff Kingston, head of Asian studies at the
Tokyo campus of Temple University in Philadelphia. “Hashimoto
represents a substantial threat because there’s so much
dissatisfaction with the two main parties.”

In a campaign policy outline released today, Noda pledged
to end deflation within a year and build no more atomic plants
in a country still reeling from last year’s Fukushima nuclear
disaster. He also said he would nationalize islands at the
center of a territorial dispute with China.

Restoration Party

Noda’s deal with the LDP to pass a bill doubling the five
percent sales tax by 2015 to address soaring welfare costs and
record debt split the ruling party. The opposition-controlled
upper house passed a censure motion against Noda on Aug. 29 and
blocked deficit-financing legislation, complicating efforts to
sustain a recovery in the world’s third-largest economy.

Over the weekend, Hashimoto announced the formation of the
Japan Restoration Party, which is aiming to field at least 300
candidates in the next lower house election. Hashimoto said he
will not run so he can fulfill his term as Osaka mayor.

Seven lawmakers from three political parties, including
three from the DPJ, took part in a public forum hosted by
Hashimoto yesterday. The lawmakers will join the new party, Jiji
Press reported today without citing anyone.

“The people’s number-one concern is economic policy and
fiscal management and we have to clearly lay out what we’re
going to do,” Hashimoto said.

Revolving Premiers

While the new party didn’t release a platform, the
previously named One Osaka association has called for abolishing
the upper house of parliament and holding direct elections for
prime minister, both of which would require amending Japan’s
postwar constitution for the first time.

Noda is Japan’s sixth prime minister since 2006 and the
third since the DPJ ousted the LDP from half a century of almost
unbroken control in 2009. His approval ratings have fallen over
his push to raise the sales tax and his decision to reactivate
two atomic reactors.

Hashimoto’s party has 23.8 percent support, according to a
Sankei FNN poll published on Sept. 4. The LDP, which also holds
a leadership contest this month, had 21.7 percent support and
the DPJ had 17.4 percent. Almost 65 percent of DPJ supporters
back Noda in the party’s presidential contest, the Nikkei
newspaper said on Aug. 27. Neither poll gave a margin of error.

LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki said today he won’t run for
re-election in his party’s Sept. 26 contest. Candidates to
replace him include Nobuteru Ishihara, the party’s No. 2
official, former prime minister Shinzo Abe and ex-defense chief
Shigeru Ishiba.